Indicator 16.10.2 Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information

Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements

Indicator 16.10.2: Canada’s adoption and implementation of constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information

Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information.

The purpose of this indicator is to report the total of number of countries that adopted legal guarantees on access to information (ATI), as well as the main tendencies in the implementation of these guarantees, which are presented in global aggregates.

Based on the definition above, the indicator has two components:

1. Adoption
2. Implementation

1. Legal frameworks for Access to Information
2. Limited exemptions
3. Oversight mechanism
4. Appeals mechanism
5. Record keeping and reporting

A country’s responses to the UNESCO Survey on Public Access to Information are scored based on two components: adoption and implementation. A score between 0 and 5 is awarded for the adoption component. A score between 0 and 4 is awarded for the implementation component. The total score is the sum of the scores from each component with a maximum possible score of 9.

Canada’s questionnaire responses are based on data from the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) preceding the year of the survey. The fiscal year-end is taken as the reference year for the score. For example, Canada’s response to the 2021 Survey on Public Access to Information is based on data from the 2019-2020 fiscal year and the corresponding score is associated with the reference year 2020 in the chart.

For more information on Canada’s adoption and implementation of constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information, please consult the Access to Information Act.

Data were readily available to report on this indicator as specified by the metadata. Please refer to the sources to access additional information on the metadata or source.